The Vice-President for Academic Affairs, having spent some time
studying abroad, came up with the idea of a year-round academic
calendar. H e did not initially have a complete understanding of ho w the
details would look like, especially if it were to be adopted at D e La Salle
University. Eventually, he broached the idea at the regular meetings of
the Council of Deans which he chaired and in one of the high-level
Year-End Administrators' Workshops.
H e appreciated the novelty of this possible solution given Philippine
conditions, although he noted that it was not new in other countries, like
the United States of America, where he had mostly been educated. H e
had, therefore, a working knowledge of the trimester system.
Furthermore, his prestige within the University enabled him to push for
further exploration.
This scheme called for transforming the academic calendar of the
university from two 18-week semesters (and one under-utilized 6-week
summe r term) to three 14-week trimesters. The implications were
several:
(i) facilities would be fully used for 42 instead of 36 weeks;
(ii) faculty and students would spend more hours in the
classrooms each year, allowing greater opportunity to earn
higher salaries for teachers, and a faster degree completion rate
for students wh o undertook full loads; and
(iii) the possibility to collect significantly increased revenues, since
tuition fees would be paid three times a year instead of just
two.
The trimester scheme thus met the objectives of maintaining quality
and increasing financial viability without unduly increasing tuition fees,
expanding physical facilities or hiring substantially more faculty, and
without notably increasing student enrolment or incurring unnecessary or